Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 3.djvu/30

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\IRG1XIA BIOGRAPHY

ing the following session he was elected to the supreme court bench, where he distin- guishetl himself by his erudition and the practical good sense of his opinions. With a brief interval he remained upon the bench until March 12, 1873, when ill health ob- liged him to resign. When he tendered his resignation, the entire court addressed him in a letter of regret, in which they showed that he held the highest possible position in the estimation of his associates on the bench. He never regained his health, and died in Petersburg, March 14, 1874. On March 17, of the same year, was held a memorial meeting of the bench and bar of Petersburg, and eulogistic tributes were paid his memory by Maj. Chajles S. Stringfel- low and Captain (later Judge) Drury A. llinton. He married in Petersburg, in 1839, a daughter of Judge John F. May.

Bouldin, Wood, born at "Golden Hills," Charlotte couiity, Virginia, January 20, 181 1, son of Hon. Thomas Tyler Bouldin, and Ann (Lewis) Bouldin, his wife; his grand- parents on the paternal side were W'ood touldin and Johanna Tyler, sister of John Tyler, of revolutionary fame. His early \outh was passed in Richmond, where he Dttended a school conducted by Mr. Turner. He afterwards was a student at New Lon- don Academy, in Bedford county, then un- der the charge of the Rev. Nicholas H. Cohbs, afterward the distinguished Bishop of .Mabama. .At this celebrated school he completed his academic studies, and on his return home, for a year taught a neigh- borhood school. He then removed to Hali- >ax counly. where he took up law studies under the orticc preceptorship of the Hon. William Leigh, one of Virginia's greatest

jurists, and who ever afterward cherished a genuine afTection and admiration for his whilom pupil. On coming to the bar, Mr. Bouldin found his capabilities taxed to the utmost in settling the affairs of his father, and the extensive estate of Frederick Ross (for whom the elder Bouldin was the repre- sentative), which had been left greatly em- barassed. In discharging these onerous du- ties, Mr. Bouldin established a high reputa- ,tion for ability and integrity. He now set- ,tled at Charlotte Court House, where he ^practiced his profession with great success. In 1842, seeking a larger field, he removed to Richmond, where he entered into a law jjartnership with Robert C. Stanard, one of the most eminent lawyers of his day. He at ,once took his position in the front rank of the Richmond bar, and Grattan's Reports record many opinions which attest his abil- ity and learning. In 1853 he purchased the fine plantation on Staunton river, on which John Randolph, of Roanoke, had resided, and Jiere took up his residence, and practiced his profession in Charlotte, Halifax and Mecklenburg counties. When civil war was impending, Mr. Bouldin was made a delegate to the Virginia convention of 1861. Here he insisted that the state should never leave the Union until she had made every en- deavor to settle the differences between the different sections of the country, and re- fused to vote for the secession ordinance until President Lincoln called upon Virginia for troops, when he cast his lot with his state. During the war, he was one of the most trusted leaders in the legislature. After the surrender of Gen. Lee, he did not indulge in vain regrets, but took a pa- triot's part in seeking to recover the state